Savvy Creative

This post was inspired by two things- one was this post, which I thought was a necessary reminder to the whole "the grass is greener" mentality, and also a question I received recently.

Like the post above, I too get so many questions and comments like "your job must be SO fun" and "how neat you get to play with pretty things all day!". And I do love my job and I do love what I get to play with most days. But mixed in with all of that there are budgets, proposals, numbers, negotiation, employees, schedules, invoices, taxes, and more lists and timelines than I'd like to admit. So it's a good thing, that from the outsider's perspective, it looks like everything came together effortlessly and magically unfolded before their very eyes. That means we did a great job at curtaining off the not so pretty!

Behind the scenes

As a business owner, not only am I in charge of the integrity of a client's event, but I'm also in charge of running the business. So, I have to admit it saddens me when I see someone "jump in" to become a wedding planner because they possess some creativity. It saddens me, because even though I took measures to educate myself before hanging my shingle, looking back, I essentially leaped into business because I saw a void in our marketplace and wanted so badly to fill it. But I knew nothing of the other side to running a successful business, a creative one or not. I can also say I'm happy when I see someone with the courage and tenacity to make a real go of it because no matter what owning a business and all that comes with it is no easy feat and should be celebrated. On that note, a few tips I've learned along the way:

- Accept that there are some things you'll have to do yourself, especially in the beginning. Know that there will be trials, tribulations, things that worked, and things that failed miserably. Accept that some things will need to change as you grow and evolve.

It's not always easy...just try to have fun with it.

- But keep the things that are working and work to keep them effective- You may have to tweak them as your team grows or create more systems, and that's ok.

One thing that will never change: having my Venti iced coffee on wedding days. A tradition for almost 7 years now!

- Outsource what you can, especially those items you're not good at. Accept that not everyone (or many) possess the ability to be efficient with both sides of the brain. Your work and home life will be much less stressful once you identify these qualities and eliminate those that suck your time away. 

Give me color swatches and linen samples any day..

So, do tell...what business and creative-related questions do you have or are you facing? I consider business networking one of the best forms of therapy, er, help there is. I fully believe in having business coaches and mentors, and connecting with other business owners on much of the same problems you might be facing. I'd love to be able to address those questions here- so do feel free to post a comment with your question, or if you have any tips and tricks of your own that you've discovered please leave those as well! 

Xo,